Dynamics Analytical Calculation Model for Seismic Response of Rocking Steel Piers

Abstract The prestressed self-centering rocking steel bridge pier with external energy-dissipating devices has excellent seismic and economic performance and broad application prospects. This paper establishes a prediction model for the height of the compression zone at the pier bottom based on the existing statics analytical model of the rocking steel bridge piers under the horizontal cyclic load. Furthermore, based on the dynamics Lagrange’s equation and the conservation theorem of angular momentum before and after the impact, a dynamics analytical calculation method for the rocking steel pier structural system is proposed, which considers the energy dissipation in the plastic hinge zone at the pier bottom and the collaborative work of multiple components under horizontal ground motions. Compared with the calculation results of the static and dynamic refined finite element models, for rocking steel piers with different structural parameters, the statics analytical method can obtain accurate load–displacement hysteresis curves. Moreover, the displacement time history results and restoring force–displacement curves of the proposed dynamics analytical model are quite accurate. The dynamics analytical calculation method proposed in this paper can provide an important support for the establishment of seismic design method of the rocking steel pier.